


Language barrier

by prayforpiett



Series: Languages of love and hate [1]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Languages and Linguistics, Movie Night, Season 1, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:07:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29888469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prayforpiett/pseuds/prayforpiett
Summary: "He thought that he had prepared for everything that could come with being an active Watcher but he had never expected a language barrier. Nor a Hellmouth for that matter but the former was much more concerning. They all spoke English for heaven's sake!"
Relationships: Rupert Giles & Buffy Summers
Series: Languages of love and hate [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2197557
Kudos: 2





	Language barrier

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my native language and Grammarly was my only beta so...

He thought that he had prepared for everything that could come with being an active Watcher but he had never expected a language barrier. Nor a Hellmouth for that matter but the former was much more concerning. They all spoke English for heaven's sake! He had no idea that the vocabulary of the modern American teenager would be this severely lacking. They butchered proper grammar and stomped on the grave of the language with a huge grin on their face. It was exhausting, working in a high school, surrounded by children babbling incoherently but that nearly didn't come close to the horror of not understanding each other with his Slayer of all people. She littered her speech with pop culture references that made absolutely no sense to him and when he brought it up, she just shrugged with a grin saying "when in Rome". That was of course, out of the question. He'd not give in and resort to ridiculous Americanisms after spending years of his childhood with tutors to make sure he spoke English as clearly and eloquently as possible. He would not wield to a teenage girl's whims.

However, his resolve quickly started to weaken. Buffy Summers was nothing like the Slayers described in the handbook. She was insolent, disobedient and absolutely infuriating. Frilly dresses, boys and cheerleading of all things seemed to matter more to her than her sacred duty. Of course, the Council would assign him a lost cause. After all, they thought him to be one. They hadn't fully trusted him since his little exploits in the 70s and many still saw him as a ticking time bomb, who when let loose would undoubtedly start summoning demons again. He sometimes idly wondered how much time it'd take for those ancient bastards to start dying out from the ranks of the Council. Would he have to bear the stigma of his wasted youth until he was eighty? 

Nevertheless, the fact that it was evident that they saw no chance of him succeeding made him even more eager to prove them wrong. So he told himself that he was not giving up, simply trying different a method as he - with a list of most popular teenage movies in hand - marched into Blockbuster. He had gathered titles by casually (well, not exactly as casually as he would have liked) asking the students, who wandered into the library for textbooks. Most of them rolled their eyes, obviously thinking that he was trying a bit too hard to connect with the youth but some of them actually seemed eager to talk, enthusiastically babbling about their favourite scenes or actors. It surprised him most that he didn't find these conversations wholly unpleasant even if he could only contribute with a well-timed nod or a mildly confused "yes, yes that is indeed very fascinating". It was quite nice, having someone talk to him without constant arguing or fighting.

As he surveyed the isles, on the hunt for movies with such simplistic titles as Clueless, Scream or the Craft he couldn't help but feel sorely out of place. That was a rather constant feeling nowadays yet, it still made him self-conscious. Sunnydale was a small town and in spite of the welcoming, very American cheer displayed by its inhabitants, he found it hard to make connections. Of course, it was his duty to devote every waking moment to his mission but he still couldn't help but miss his colleagues at the British Museum. Hell, he realized that he even held a wistful fondness for the awkward, slightly passive-aggressive conversations he used to have with Wyndam-Pryce senior. 

To think that a few minutes ago, he had thought that the teen movies were the most embarrassing thing about today.

He grabbed the Star Wars trilogy (he had seen the first one with Ethan when it came out but never watched the rest) and added it to the growing pile of VHS tapes before he went to the cash register. The clerk, a young, twenty-something with strong eyeliner and a perpetual look of boredom on her thankfully didn't even bat an eye at him. After fishing out the money from his wallet and handing it to her, he fleed from the store with as much dignity as he could muster. Which was decidedly not a lot but it made him feel better to pretend.

Later, in front of his television, he recognized that there might have been a slight error in his plan. There was no way he could watch all of this. He was barely through the half of the first movie but he had already consumed way more alcohol than what was probably appropriate for a movie night. He was willing to make efforts but even his patience had limits. So he sorted through the rest of the movies, methodically categorizing whether they had held any possibility to be passable. When he was only left with a few, he sighed in resignation and turned on the television again. He just hoped that he was intoxicated enough.

Days later, when he finally understood a Star Wars reference, there was something in the self-satisfied grin on his Slayer's face that made him think that there was hope for this all to work out.

**Author's Note:**

> I've never been to a Blockbuster ever in my life.


End file.
